After seven-year search, Datacom finds a home

Five into one: Datacom staff are beginning to occupy their new Auckland base.

When Datacom director Vernon Kay first joined the company in 1996 it occupied three offices in Auckland. Until this week, it occupied five.

Now, after a seven-year search, staff have finally begun moving into what will become the company's single Auckland office, in the Wynyard Quarter.

The move will initially bring more than 1100 staff together, but the premises have capacity for 1500, Kay said.

Offering 1700 square meters, the Gaunt St building is owned by Goodman Property and built by Fletcher Construction. It was blessed on the weekend in a ceremony conducted by Ngati Whatua o Orakei.

A large ground-floor cafe area will greet staff as they arrive over coming weeks.

Datacom will occupy 13,500 square metres of the 17,000 square meter building which boasts a Five Green Star design rating and is built to the latest earthquake standards.

Technology is also to the fore: there is a build room for tech staff to test their creations, Microsoft Surface displays soon to be supplemented by a company wide deployment of Skype for Business, and room bookings controlled by software Datacom itself created called Junctions.

Networking is almost entirely provided by high capacity wifi and power is backed up with a 1.2 megawatt generator.

Staff will find open plan workplaces, a large and striking cafeteria, a quiet room, 120 bike racks and many different types of collaborative work spaces.

Kay said Datacom began its search to bring Auckland staff under one roof seven years ago, but more earnestly over the last five years. The company got great value for money in the Gaunt St office, he said.

The office is also in the heart of Auckland's new innovation hub near Microsoft, HP, IBM, the Grid AKL innovation complex and major corporates such as ASB, Fonterra and Air New Zealand.

Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development (ATEED) general manager Patrick McVeigh said Datacom's arrival enhances ATEED's efforts to create an innovation community in the area.

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